Drafting instrument



Oct. 7, 1947. E'BERfETAL 2,428,699

DRAFTING INS TRUMENT Filed Oct. 4, 1944 INVENTORS aw 5&5??- /bmFM/Esvfla .15 UEZLZY Patented Oct. 7, 1947 DRAFTING INSTRUMENT Howard F. Ebert,Omaha, Nebn, and Adolf W. Keuffel, Essex Fells, N. J., assignors toKeuffel & Esser Company, Hoboken, N. J a corporation of New JerseyApplication October 4, 1944, Serial No. 557,108

9 Claims.

This invention relates to drafting instruments and more particularly toinstruments for drawing spaced parallel lines such as cross-sectionlines sometimes also called cross-hatching.

Nearly all mechanical drawings of parts or assemblies includecross-section views to clarify intricate structures and particularly toshow the relationship of various parts in assemblies. Parts which areshown in section are section lined or cross hatched by drawing a seriesof lines usually at 45 to the right or to the left of the base line ofthe drawing. By means of various combinations of full lines,brokenlines, light and heavy lines, it is possible to indicate the type ofmaterial which is shown in sectional View according to standards adoptedby the various engineering societies,

Cross section lining will enhance the appearance of the drawin only iflike lines are of uniform weight and uniformly spaced over the entiredrawing. To accomplish this effect without mechanical means requiresconstant care and attention on the part of the draftsman and con sumes alarge part of the draftsmans time.

The object of the present invention is to provide a drafting instrumentwhich will enable the draftsman to make uniformly spaced lines rapidlyand with a minimum amount of concentration on the draftsmans part.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a draftinginstrument for section lining consisting of a minimum number of parts sothat the instrument can not get out of working order yet will give aplurality of predetermined spacings as may be required by the draftsman.

A further object of the invention is to provide a drafting instrumentfor section lining in the form of a standard drafting instrument whichnearly every draftsman requires as part of his regular tools.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a draftinginstrument for section lining which can be used in any position on adrawing and does not require the insertion of thumb tacks or fasteningdevices through the face of the drawing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drafting instrument forsection linin which is inexpensive to manufacture so that its cost willnot be appreciably more than the standard instrument which the draitsmanalways requires.

It is a particular object of this invention to provide in a draftinginstrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a body with a ruling edge,an aperture in said body with at least two spaced apart elements, meansoscillatably mounted in said aperture having a plurality of pairs ofcooperating elements in similar relative positions but at differentdistances apart coacting with said spaced apart elements of saidaperture so that a different maximum relative movement is obtained foreach of a plurality of positions of orientation of the oscillatablemeans within said aperture,

Still another object of the invention is to provide in a draftinginstrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a body with a ruling edge,an aperture in said body with at least two spaced apart elements, and apair of substantially parallel guiding walls, grooved projections onsaid parallel walls, means oscillatably mounted in said aperture havinga plurality of pairs of cooperating elements in similar relativepositions but at different distances apart and havin a pair ofsubstantially parallel edges, ridges on said parallel edges to form asnap fit with said grooved projections, the said elements of saidoscillatable means and said elements of said aperture coacting so that adifferent maximum relative movement is obtained for each of a pluralityof positions of orientation of the oscillatable means within saidaperture.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description read in'connection with thedrawings in which Fig. 1 is aview in plan showing a 45 triangleembodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a portion of Fig, 1 in section along the line 22 looking inthe direction of the arrows;

Fig.3 is a fragmentaryview in plant of a portion of Fig. 1 with a partremoved to show details of construction; and,

Fig. 4 is a view in plan of one of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

This invention for a drafting instrument to draw spaced parallel linesis adaptable to many types of drafting instruments of any desired shapealthough it is most conveniently applied to one of the draftsmansregular tools such as a triangle. Accordingly, the invention isillustrated in an embodiment as applied to the draftsmans conventional45 triangle which as is well known can be made of transparent sheetplastic such as Celluloid, Vinylite, Lucite or opaque materials such aswood, metal, etc. The conventional triangle 2 illustrated in 1 has theusual exterior ruling edges 3, 5 and l and may be made in any conyenientdimensions such as 6 inches or 8 inches 3 along the base I or altitude5. Within the body may be provided the usual triangular cut-out A whichserves to lighten the weight of the instrument, to assist in itsmanufacture, to provide means for picking up the instrument from asmooth surface such as a drawing and to prevent warping or curling ofthe instrument. The triangular cut-out portion 4 is spaced slightlydifferently from that in the usual conventional triangle to provide roomfor another aperture 6 illustrated as generally rectangular in shapewith the longer edges parallel to one side 'of the triangle such as thebase 1.

The aperture 5 includes in the form illustrated in Fig. 1 Walls 8, ID,l2, l4 and I6 of which all except iii ar the walls of a rectangle andwall It] is a diagonal across one corner which may be considered asoblique to one side and one end. The two longer parallel sides 8 and Mas illustrated in Fig. 3 are provided with projections l8 from thesewalls the details of which are shown in Fig. 2. A groove with walls 22and bottom 24! is out substantially in the center of the projections isforming lips 28. The grooved projections 58 along a limited portion ofthe sides 8 and I l serve to retain shuttle 39 in aperture 6 bycooperation with ridges on the edges of shuttle 33. which is illustratedin greater detail in Fig. 4.

Referring again to Fig. 3 it will be noted that at one end of aperture 6is a vertical wall [6 and at the opposite end a diagonal or oblique wallit.

to cooperate with the shuttle in a manner hereinafter described forpermitting relative movement of a predetermined amount between thetriangle I These two elements are spaced apart a' distance 7 tudinalridges-8 (see Fig. 2) are formed by cut- 7 ting away portions of theside edges 32'and iii to provide walls and shoulders 53 of the ridgeswhichcooperate with the grooved projections l8 from the body and serveas retaining means for the shuttle 30. The shuttle 30 is thusoscillatably mounted in the triangle 2. V

Indicia 54, 56, 58 and 60 are provided on the shuttle indicating thespacing to be obtained when the shuttle is in particular positions byreference to an index arrow 62. Holes 64 or other means in the shuttleserve as finger grips for the spacing operation in the mannerhereinafter described.

Referring to Fig. 4 the indicia 54 reads "t g which as will be seen fromFig. 1 is adjacent the index arrow 52. This indicia indicates that therelative movement permissible between the triangle proper 2 and theshuttle 3!) is a fixed di tanceequal to the horizontal distance betweentwo 4K5 lines spaced inch apart. This permissible movement is due to thefact that the spacing between the spaced apart elements of the aperture5, namely, thesidewall l5 and the oblique wall It, is greater by thepredetermined amount than the corresponding distance between cooperatingelements on the shuttle and particularly the distance fromfend edge M tothe oblique edge 34 of the shuttle. These relative dimensions aresuchthat the perpendicular dis- I in the art.

engage the oblique or diagonal wall it of the 1 triangle.

In order to permit drawing parallel lines along the hypothenuse 3 with aperpendicular spacing of a"? of an inch. the shuttle is removed from thetriangle by snapping it out of the aperture as can be readily donebecause of the flexibility of the triangle and particularly the webportion between the triangular aperture 4 and the shuttle aperture 6.When the shuttle has been removed from the aperture, it is rotated aboutan axis perpendicular ,to the plane of the shuttle and then reinsertedin the aperture 6. When thus reoriented and reinserted, the indicia 58reading 3% will be adjacent the index arrow 62. The edge 36 of theshuttle will be against the wall 5 of the aperture and the oblique edge42 of the shuttle 30 will be parallel with the oblique wall it of theaperture. Because of the relative dimensions between the end, edge 36and oblique edge 42 of the shuttle 38 with respect to the correspondingdimension between the wall I6 and the wall [0 of the aperture 6, therelative movement in inches of the shuttle with respect to the trianglewill be a distance equal to of an inch times the secant of 45..

If another of the possible line spacings is de sired such as -6 of aninch, the shuttle is snapped out of the aperture and turned over thenput in such a position that the indicia 56 e isadjacent the indexarrow-62 and then the shuttle as now oriented is snapped into place. Ifline spacing of of an inch is desired, the indicia 60 is by similaroperation placed opposite the indexarrow 62.

It will be evident that any desired number of a l n s n may e sec ed, wh s ombination by varying'the position and characteristics of theseveral elements involved. Instead of employing a diagonal wall It}andan oblique; edge 3.4 in cooperation with; a walland edge [6 and .44,respectively, the diagonal edge l0 might, for

example, be stepped and suitable cooperating stepped members provided ateach or the corners of the shuttle. Other modifications of this gen:eral arrangement will be evident to those skilled The shuttle asillustrated in Fig. 1 is transparent but it will be clear that this aswell asnthe triangle may be'made from an opaque-material in which casethe indicia for each position of the shuttle and the index arrow can bestamped on both sides of the shuttle and triangle'respect ive-i ly.While in the preferred embodiment the ,shut-. tle 30 and aperture 6 areprovided withcooperate ing members to retain the shuttle in position,the

advantages of this construction may be dispensed with withoutsacrificing other advantages of the shuttle arrangement. a 7

In pe a t e aitsm pla e he de ice with one edge such as the base .1against a suits. able straightedge. By placing the thumb firmly on theshuttle it is'held in position against the. drawing; the other fingersorthe left handmay. then be used to move the triangle proper so that thoblique wall 10 of the aperture 6 engages "the edge 34 of the shuttle.While in thi position the draftsman would draw a line with a pencil orruling pen held in his right hand along an edge of the triangle such asthe h'ypothenuse 3. To draw a second line at the preselected distancefrom the first, the draftsman presses against the triangle with hisfingers and with his thumb moves the shuttle to the left as viewed inFig. 1 so that the edge 44 of the shuttle engages the wall I6 of thetriangle, then holding the shuttle in position against the drawing, thetriangle is moved with the fingers until the oblique wall Ill of theaperture 6 engages the edge 34 of the shuttle 30. The second lineproperlyspaced from the first line may now be drawn along the edge 3 ofthe triangle and the operation repeated as many times as is necessary toprovide the desired number of spaced parallel lines.

It will thus be seen that this invention provides a drafting instrumentfor readily drawing spaced parallel lines with any of a plurality ofdesired spacings.

We claim:

1. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a bodywith a ruling edge, an aperture in said body with at least two spacedapart elements, means which may be oriented with respect to said spacedapart elements oscillatably mounted in said aperture having a pluralityof pairs of cooperating elements in similar relative positions but atdifferent distances apart coacting with said spaced apart elements ofsaid aperture so that a different maximum relative movement is obtainedfor each of a plurality of positions of orientation of the oscillatablemeans within said aperture.

2. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a bodywith a ruling edge, an aperture in said body with at least two spacedapart elements, means which may be oriented with respect to said spacedapart elements oscillatably mounted in said aperture having a pluralityof pairs of cooperating elements in similar relative positions but atdifferent distances apart coacting with said spaced apart elements ofsaid aperture so that a different maximum relative movement is obtainedfor each of a plurality of positions for orientation of the oscillatablemeans within said aperture and means to retain said oscillatably mountedmeans within said aperture.

3. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a sheetlike body, a pentagonal aperture in said body, four walls of saidaperture forming parts of a, rectangle with a fifth wall at an obliqueangle, an octagonal unitary shuttle oscillatably mounted in saidaperture, four edges of said shuttle substantially parallel to the fourright angle walls of said aperture, the other four edges of said shuttlein oblique positions each differently spaced with respect to thecorresponding parallel edges to coact with the oblique wall of saidaperture to limit the maximum relative lateral movement between saidshuttle and said body, a different maximum relative movement beingobtained when each of the oblique edges of said shuttle is anjuxtaposition with the 0blique wall of said aperture.

4. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a bodywith a ruling edge, an aperture in said body with at least two spacedapart elements, and a pair of substantially parallel guiding walls,means which may be oriented with respect to said spaced apart elementsoscillatably mounted in said aperturehaving a plurality of pairs ofcooperating elements in similar rela-.- tive positions but at differentdistances apart and having a pair of substantially parallel edges toguide the oscillatable means within the aperture, said cooperatingelements on said oscillatably mounted means coacting with said spacedapart elements of said aperture so that a different maximum relativemovement is obtained for each of a plurality of positions of orientationof the oscillatable means within said aperture.

5. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a bodywith a ruling edge, an aperture in said body with at least two spacedapart elements, means which may be oriented with respect to said spacedapart elements oscillatably mounted in said aperture having a pluralityof pairs of cooperating elements in similar relative positions but atdifferent distance apart, cooperating grooves and ridges on walls ofsaid aperture and edges of said oscillatable means to form a snap fit,the said elements of said oscillatable means and said elements of saidaperture coacting so that a different maximum relative movement isobtained for each of a plurality of positions of orientation of theoscillatable means within said aperture.

6. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a bodywith a rulin edge, an aperture in said body with at least two spacedapart elements, and a pair of substantially parallel guiding walls,grooved projections on said parallel walls, means which may be orientedwith respect to said spaced apart elements oscillatably mounted in saidaperture having a plurality of pairs of cooperating elements in similarrelative positions but at different distances apart and having a pair ofsubstantially parallel edges, ridges on said parallel edges to form asnap fit with said grooved projections, the said elements of saidoscillatable means and said elements of said aperture coacting so that adifferent maximum relative movement is obtained for each of a pluralityof positions of orientation of the oscillatable means within saidaperture.

'7. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a bodywith a ruling edge, an aperture in said body with at least two spacedapart elements, one of said elements being an oblique wall, means whichmay be oriented with respect to said spaced apart elements oscillatablymountedin said aperture having a plurality of pairs of cooperatingelements in similar relative positions but at different distances apart,one of each of said pairs being an oblique edge, said elements of saidoscillatable means and said elements of said aperture coacting so that adifferent maximum relative movement is obtained for each of a pluralityof positions of orientation of the oscillatable means within saidaperture.

8. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines, a body,an aperture in said body with at least two spaced apart elements andhaving a pair of substantially parallel walls, a second aperture in saidbody having at least one wall substantially parallel to one of the saidparallel walls of the first said aperture to form a flexible Web betweenthe two apertures, means which may be oriented with respect to saidspaced apart elements oscillatably mounted in first said aperture havinga pair of substantially parallel edges and a plurality of pairs ofcooperating elements in. similar relative positions but at different distances apart, cooperating grooves and ridges on walls of first saidaperture and on edges of said oscillatable means to form a snap lit, thesaid elements of said oscillatable means and said ele ments. of saidaperture coa'ctingso that; a. different maximum relative movement isobtained for each of a plurality of positions of orientation of theoscillatable means within said aperture.

9-. In a drafting instrument for drawing spaced parallel lines,' a bodyin the form of a715 triangle, an aperture in saidbody with at least twospaced apart elements and having a-pair of substantially parallel Wallssubstantially parallel to one of the edges of said triangle, arsecondaper-- ture in said. body having at least one Wall substantiallyparallel to said parallel Walls of the first said aperture to form aflexible Webbetween the two apertures, means Which may be oriented withrespect to said spaced apart elements oscillatably mounted 111 13118first said aperture having a pair of substantially parallel edges and aplurality of pairs of cooperating elements in similar relative positionsbut at difierent distances apart,

REFERENCES CITED-1 I The following references are of record in the fileof this patent: V V UNITED STATES PATENTS Date.

Number Name 951,719 Baum Mar.-8, 1910: 1,262,971

Olson Apr. 16 1918

